Page 25 of Hunted to the Altar
I reached out to Nina, my hand steady despite the storm raging inside me. She flinched but didn’t pull away as I gently pulled her to her feet. Her dress was ruined, the white fabric now drenched in crimson, clinging to her body like a secondskin. Her defiance was gone, replaced by a hollow exhaustion that twisted something deep in my chest.
The wedding ceremony began again, more somber and macabre than I’d ever imagined. The air hung thick with the coppery scent of blood, the flickering candlelight casting grotesque shadows over the carnage strewn across the chapel. Marcello’s voice was calm, his Latin prayers echoing off the walls, a haunting counterpoint to the violence that had just transpired.
I kept my gaze fixed on Nina, her trembling frame cloaked in bloodied white. Her lips moved faintly, her voice too soft for anyone but me to hear as she murmured the vows Marcello prompted. “For better or worse…” she whispered, her tone laced with bitter irony.
“For worse,” I said, my voice resolute as I met her eyes. “Always for worse.”
Marcello placed his hands over ours, the weight of his gesture grounding me. “By the power vested in me,” he intoned, “I pronounce you husband and wife. What has been bound in blood, let no man tear asunder.”
Daniele, my other cousin, not by blood, and witnesses whooped in the background. He was an annoying little shit.
I leaned in, my lips brushing against Nina’s in a kiss that was anything but tender. It was a claim, a branding, and she stood stiff as stone beneath me. I didn’t care. She was mine, and now the universe would know it.
The chapel doors swung open with a crash, revealing one of the surviving intruders, his face a mask of fury and desperation. He carried a makeshift torch, his intentions clear as he tried to hurl it toward the altar. My body moved instinctively, dragging my little bunny down and shielding her. If the flames erupted around us, she would be safe.
Marcello and Daniele reacted just as swiftly. Marcello pulled a hidden firearm and took the man down with a single, preciseshot. The torch fell from his lifeless hand, the flames extinguishing against the stone floor. I lost sight of Daniele in the fray. For a moment, there was only silence, broken only by Nina’s ragged breaths and the faint crackle of dissipating fire.
Daniele stepped from behind a pillar as a body fell beside him, blood spilling to the floor.
“We’re done here,” I said finally, my voice firm as I helped Nina to her feet. “Marcello, take care of the cleanup. I’m taking my wife home.”
She didn’t resist this time, her body swaying unsteadily as I guided her out of the chapel. The night air was sharp and cold against my bloodstained skin, but it was a relief to breathe something that didn’t reek of death.
My little bunny glanced back at the chapel one last time, her expression unreadable. “This isn’t over,” she hissed, her voice trembling but fierce.
“No,” I agreed, my grip tightening on her arm. “It’s just the beginning.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Nina
The weightof the blood-soaked wedding still clung to me as Samuel drove us back to his penthouse. The silence between us was suffocating, punctuated only by the rhythmic hum of the tires against the road. My fingers dug into the stained fabric of my dress, the coppery tang of blood clinging to my skin no matter how many times I wiped at it. I didn’t dare speak. Not yet.
Samuel’s hands gripped the steering wheel with a calm that felt anything but reassuring. His movements were precise, methodical, as if he were holding himself together by sheer force of will. The man who had orchestrated this entire nightmare radiated an air of composure that made my skin crawl. What was going through his mind? Did he feel any of the turmoil I did? Did he even care?
The city lights blurred through the window, their glow doing nothing to pierce the darkness that surrounded me. Istared at my reflection in the glass, my face pale and hollow, my hair disheveled and matted with sweat and…other things I didn’t want to think about. The white gown that Marcello had placed me in was ruined, clinging to me like a macabre second skin.
I wasn’t sure which was worse: that I had married Samuel, or that I was still alive because of him.
The car slowed, the looming shadow of his penthouse coming into view. Samuel pulled into the underground garage with the precision of a man who controlled every facet of his life. As soon as the car stopped, I reached for the door handle, desperate to escape the stifling confines of the vehicle.
“Don’t,” he said, his voice low and calm. It wasn’t a command, not exactly, but it froze me all the same. I turned to glare at him, my fingers still on the handle.
“Don’t what?” My voice was sharper than I intended. “Don’t breathe? Don’t leave? What exactly am I allowed to do, Samuel?”
His blue eyes flicked to mine, cold and unyielding. “You’re allowed to survive, Nina. Everything else is a privilege.”
The words were like a slap, and I recoiled, my anger flaring to life despite the fear that coiled in my stomach. “A privilege? You think you own me now, is that it?”
He leaned back in his seat, his gaze never leaving mine. “I don’t think, Nina. I know.”
My heart pounded as the weight of his words settled over me. He was serious. Deadly serious. And yet, there was something in his tone—a quiet conviction that made my skin prickle. He wasn’t trying to intimidate me. He was stating a fact.
Before I could respond, he opened his door and stepped out, his movements as fluid and controlled as ever. He walked around to my side of the car and opened the door, holding out his hand. “Come inside. We need to talk.”
I stared at his hand like it was a snake poised to strike. “What if I say no?”
His lips curved into a faint smile, one that didn’t reach his eyes. “Then I’ll carry you.”
